Walk ‘n’ Talk Essentials #28 – Learn how to talk about musical instruments!

Would you like to be in a band? Come listen to this episode where our character shares her idea about a musical future. Enjoy this quick lesson with Kally Higgins, teacher from Fluency Academy!‍

The Dialogue:‍

‍Ellie: Hey, you know what?
Nick: What?
Ellie: We should form a garage band!
Nick: Dope!
Ellie: You can play the guitar, Bianca can play the drums, Liu can play the keyboard.
Nick: Who is going to sing?
Ellie: Oh, Matt can!
Nick: And how about you?
Ellie: I can snap my fingers!‍

‍Vocabulary Expansion:‍

‍We should form a garage band!‍

“Should” is a modal we use when we need to give suggestions and advice! It’s a polite and indirect way to talk about what you think is or isn’t a good idea. Here are some examples:

You should call your mother this weekend.
I think we should call the police.
He shouldn’t say inappropriate things.

‍You can play the guitar‍

“Can” is also a modal, but it indicates possibility, permission, ability or availability. That seems like a lot, right? It’s a versatile word but the more you practice, the easier it becomes, so let’s see a few examples:

You can play the guitar.
Can I come with you?
I can’t look after the kids tomorrow.

‍How about you?‍

It is considered polite to include everyone in the conversation and one way of doing that is to direct the question or topic back to the other person. You can do that by adding one of these structures to the end of your reply:

How about you?
What about you?
And you?
How about yourself?

Check out these examples:

I can play the guitar. How about you?
We’re going to the beach this weekend. What about you?
We stayed home yesterday, and you?
I’ve been studying English for three months. How about yourself?

We hope this content was helpful and that you enjoyed the episode! Don’t forget that you can listen to it as many times as you want and that the more you practice, the more confident you will feel. See you next time!